AMHERST - The long braids of last week are gone, replaced by a new, closely-cropped look.

University of Massachusetts men's basketball forward Tyrell Lynch gives no specific reason for the different look. The haircut is yesterday's news, after all, and the 6-foot-9, 230-pound freshman forward would rather look ahead.

"It's been a long wait, but UMass is turning out to be all I'd expected," Lynch said. "A year off is tough, but I'm getting ready every day."

Lynch had originally expected to play for Auburn last year. Then, he expected to play for Travis Ford at UMass.

He wound up not playing at all, but attending classes at UMass and solidifying his eligibility. What beckons him now are four years with Derek Kellogg, a coach he never met until Kellogg took Ford's place last spring.

"Once I met coach Kellogg, I found him to be a very open person," said Lynch, whose first UMass game will be Wednesday night's preseason contest against Dowling (N.Y.) College at the Mullins Center.

In the UMass media guide, Lynch lists his favorite pro team as "any NBA team looking to hire."

Best player he's ever faced? "Anytime I look in the mirror," is his answer.

Face to face, though, Lynch comes off as anything but cocky. He knows the challenge awaiting him.

"Rebounding has been one of our weaknesses, so I know I have to go to the boards really hard," he said. "We're going to try to piece together our rebounding, just like last year."

Last year, the Minutemen were outrebounded by 1.5 boards per game. UMass then graduated its three top rebounders (Gary Forbes, Etienne Brower and Dante Milligan), who accounted for 20 boards per game among them.

Lynch offers size and presence, the traits UMass has in shortest supply. Ideally, he could be brought along slowly after his year off, but the Minutemen don't have that luxury.

"Quite honestly, we need him," Kellogg said. "We need him to rebound, be a defensive presence and score some baskets, too."

"It's always tough after being out a year, but he's come leaps and bounds from the beginning of the (school) year."

At Niagara Falls (N.Y.) High School, Lynch averaged 18 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in 2005-06. The following year, he averaged 16 points and 10 rebounds for Laurinburg (N.C.) Prep, but his odyssey had just begun.

Lynch initially signed a letter of intent to play for Auburn, but the Tigers later pulled out. Ford jumped in, and in August of 2007, Lynch arrived at UMass.

According to Ford, Auburn's questions were not with Lynch's academics, but with the general standing of Laurinburg, his prep school. In late summer of 2007, an Auburn spokesman was quoted in the Tonawanda (N.Y.) News, simply saying the NCAA had not cleared him to play.

At first, Ford planned to petition the NCAA Clearinghouse, which reviews unusual situations, to declare Lynch eligible last season.

That process might have extended into Lynch's first season. Instead, he sat out the entire year, preserving his full four years of eligibility.

"As he's grown and become bigger and heavier, he's spent most of his time playing near the basket," Kellogg said. "But at some point in his career here, I see him able to go out to the perimeter as well."

For now, Lynch is just happy to be playing. The delays to his college career, like the braids, are yesterday's news.

"I'm still striving, trying to take what I learn every day and go with it," he said. "My mom always said when he get lemons handed to you, make 'em into lemonade. That's what I'm trying to do."